The Building Together Ministries is a Christian, charitable organization that provides services to residents in Raleigh’s inner-city. Building Together caters to parents, children, students and adults with programs that include racial reconciliation, adult learning, a pre-school and summer camp, community volunteer programs, and a mentorship program for students. Plus there’s The NeighborStore, which provides pre-owned clothing and household goods to lower-income residents and Pride for Parents Christmas Store which offers new toys at discounted prices to parents of limited means during the month of December.

Handling the Family Services division of Building Together Ministries and the Pride for Parents Christmas Store is Extreme Makeover Home Edition winner, and very Clever Parent, Linda Riggins. Linda and her husband William are the very deserving recipients of a brand new home from ABC and the Extreme Makeover crew. Catch the show Sunday, January 21st on ABC at 8pm ET/7CT. Read the Clever Parents write up on The Riggins Family: Very Clever Parents.

Clever Parents tips the hat to two Raleigh based Clever Parents, William and Linda Riggins. The Riggins are the very deserving recipients of a new home courtesy of ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Linda Riggins grew up in poverty in a dangerous neighborhood and was told she probably wouldn’t graduate from high-school. Fortunately she didn’t pay attention the doubters and went on to graduate from college with honors. Linda, who earned a degree in social work, manages the Family Services program for Building Together Ministries (see our featured charity write-up.) William is a tailor by trade, but had to quit because he lost his eyesight due to Retina Peratonitis diesase. Amazingly he’s still very handy and spends his days working at Lion’s Club Industries. (more…)

If your New Year’s resolutions included volunteering, congratulations - the world needs more people like you.

If you’re reading this chances are you’re better off than 98% of the rest of world. Sure, you can have a better job, bigger house, and nicer car. But even having a job, house or car puts you way ahead of the pack. And I don’t just mean the less fortunate in Third World countries; right here, in every state of in the Union, there are those who don’t have the food, shelter or help they need to have better lives. Men, women, and children; old and young. They need our help.

That’s the bad news. The good news? You want to do something about that. Don’t worry, you don’t have to endow a foundation or give millions to help. There are plenty of things you can do right now that won’t require donating money. And, if you’re clever about it, and we know you are, volunteering is something that will give back to you as well. (more…)

Happy New Year! We had a great 2006 and would like to thank all you—viewers, contributors and those we’ve featured—for making Clever Parents what it is today. We’re looking forward to 2007 and are excited about making Clever Parents even better.

Speaking of getting better, it’s New Year’s Day and that means New Year’s Resolutions. Today is the day when Americans sit back and take a long look in the mirror and then resolve to improve. We must not be very good at improving since according to First Gov, the Federal Government’s portal, Americans have pretty much the same top goals year after year. The full list reads like the self-help section at the local bookstore. (more…)

Looking for a dad centric view of the world, check out Dad Talk. In a sea of blogs about products and potty mishaps, Dad Talk takes a look at issues. Dad Talk is the creation of Brett Levy, an entrepreneur and father of two, living in Chicago. After becoming a dad, Brett searched online for a site that took a father’s eye view of things. Not finding it anywhere, he started Dad Talk to “repackage news from around the world and cast it from a dad’s point of view” which makes for interesting reading. Brett’s past work as a journalist serves him well as his posts are not only very well written, but he invariably finds an interesting angle (a Dad’s angle) in broad variety of subjects. A random sampling of posts take on issues from education in the U.S. to men’s health, and, crucially, what’s in his freezer.

(more…)

Fitness and Thanksgiving typically don’t go together. What with the buffet style gorging and everything covered in gravy, the closest thing to fitness that most of us get on Thanksgiving Day is walking back for seconds or watching football in the afternoon before dosing off into a tryptophan induced stupor. Dose off feeling a little less guilty by finding a Turkey Trot in your area. Turkey Trots, road races held on Thanksgiving Day, are a perfect way to get in a fun morning workout.

According to the database at Active.com, there are more than 160 Turkey Trots in the U.S.

Are you looking for a clever holiday or birthday gift for a loved one? Perhaps you’d like a keepsake for a child’s special birthday that they will cherish for years to come. Part scrapbook, part photo album, and without the mess and hassle of doing it yourself, Pam Turos of Enduring Notions offers beautiful custom digital story books and more.

Pam Turos has always been creative, whether it’s scrapbooking, crafts projects, or even digital design, she’s always challenged herself ‘to create things for less than what I can purchase them in a store.’ Prior to having children, Pam applied her creativity to her job as a social worker helping terminally ill children and cancer survivors “create photo keepsakes to share with those they love and preserve the ’stories’ of their lives.” (more…)